12 Days of 1xR
by NessieGG
Summary: 12 drabbles written for the 1xR 12 Themes challenge at 1xr, the LJ comm. Each are standalone pieces but I'll post them together here. Ratings vary for each piece and are listed inside.
1. 1st Day

Title: Private Holiday  
Author: Gundam Girl

Theme: #1 A Teddy Bear With A Pink Satin Bow

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fanfiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story, or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

The Vice Foreign Minister of the ESUN tended to be very tired when she came home. Her head hurt, her back ached, her eyes were heavy with sleep, and she was all around exhausted from her day managing Earth affairs with the Colonies.

But Relena was never tired enough to keep Heero Yuy away. His hands soothed the pains in her back with their insistence and in that process made her forget all about her hurting head, and her eyes grew heavy with another feeling altogether.

In his own way, Heero Yuy was a savior. And so one night, she decided to repay him.

The night went in its usual pattern; Relena came home and within the hour, Heero was in her room from the unlocked window. He was an expert at scaling up to her third-story quarters, and on more than one occasion she had considering having "Heero's Path" painted on the wall outside.

Tonight, however, instead of waiting for Heero to come in and take her clothes off for her, she did so before he even arrived, replacing them with something a little more...dare she say tantalizing? She snuck a glance at herself in the full-length mirror and smirked. Oh yeah. She dared.

Heero entered with his usual grace, pulling open the doors of her balcony as though he owned them and slipping inside noiselessly. Relena could recall the first time he'd done so and had nearly hit him over the head with her hair dryer. Fortunately for Heero, she got accustomed to it fairly quickly.

His eyes went straight for her where she sat at her vanity, as they always did, zeroing in first on the golden fall of hair that was loose instead of up in its customary ponytail – Relena figured he always enjoyed releasing it himself. His eyes turned next to the thin robe she wore, plain white cotton, covering her slender figure from her calves to her neck, where the material parted a bit to reveal the delicateness of her collar bones.

"Hi." She said the word the way she might say it to her secretary or the cashier at the deli.

"Hi." Heero said it like a lion would to his prey.

Relena smiled a little, knowing she could bring that look to his eyes. He hadn't gotten his gift yet. She stood up from her vanity and crossed to him, slipping her arms about his neck. "Merry Christmas."

He kissed her, and after a few moments, tipped his head back to study her. "It's not Christmas for three days."

"All the more reason to have our private little holiday right now." Stepping back, Relena pulled the tie of her robe apart and revealed the satin beneath it. The material was a soft silver color, with a thin pink bow that tied at the back and cinched the satin at her waist. Heero's eyes were drawn instantly to the pink strip around her abdomen, and then the next thing to be drawn was her body up against his.

Certain evidence told Relena that Heero liked her garment. A lot.

"Of course," she murmured against his mouth when he let her have enough air to form words, "I don't like this teddy nearly as much as the one you gave me."

But he most certainly did.


	2. 2nd Day

Title: First Time

Author: Gundam Girl

Theme: #2, Hot Chocolate

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fanfiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story, or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

"Wait, _what_?"

Heero regarded Relena's unbelieving stare with an expressionless look of his own. "What?" he asked in return.

"You honestly mean to tell me," said Relena in a tone ripe with wonder, "that you've never had hot chocolate?"

"Sorry." If Heero was a more sarcastic person he may have told the blond politician standing with him in the kitchen of the Peacecraft manor that Dr. J must have run out before he arrived at the Annual Operation Meteor Christmas parties.

"That is so…_weird_!"

Ordinarily, Relena would find out about lacks in his life, things he hadn't had during his childhood, and would accept it with the admirable grace Heero loved her for. He had never seen her react so strongly to this new revelation. "Why?" he asked, curious though his face with one eyebrow raised said differently.

"Because it's something no one should go without! I have to fix this right away."

Heero watched her from his stool by the counter. She was clad in silk pajamas, a warm but delicate robe over it, with fuzzy slippers – appropriate bedtime attire for the season. Somehow he couldn't help smiling as she shuffled purposefully about, collecting milk, a pot, and several large pieces of chocolate from the freezer that he'd had no idea about. She pushed her golden hair behind her shoulders as she turned on the stove.

"I'll be fair and warn you," said Relena, giving him a look that meant this was important, "this won't be anywhere near as good as Pagan's. I can remember a little how holidays were here, mostly from Milliardo describing it to me. Our parents had a few Christmas parties here every year for other nobles and aristocrats. Children couldn't attend, so Pagan took care of us, and gave Milliardo and I large mugs of hot chocolate." As she stirred her ingredients in a pot on the stove, a softness came to her eyes that she always got when she was trying to remember her life as a Peacecraft. Clearing her throat, she shrugged. "Anyway, you don't know what you're missing."

"I'm sure you'll enlighten me." Heero saw beneath her casual movements and tone. She always felt a deep longing when she spoke of family. Relena never used makeup compacts, opting instead for containers of loose powder and tiny mirrors to keep in her purse. For now though, standing in her warmly-decorated kitchen while in the adjacent living room, a fire was roaring and their Christmas tree blinked with cheerful colored lights.

Not too much longer, her concoction was prepared. She poured the steaming beverage into two large mugs – Heero caught her wistful smile – and passed one of them to him.

"Careful, it's hot." She watched him with her undivided attention while he took a sip. His eyes were narrowed in concentration.

After sampling it, Heero turned his eyes up to hers.

"Well?" Relena prompted.

Heero smirked. "It's better than beer."

Her laughter could be heard all throughout the palace.


	3. 3rd Day

Title: Time Difference

Author: Gundam Girl

Theme: #3, A Weekend Getaway

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fanfiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story, or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

"I swear, that was the rockiest shuttle I've ever been on."

Heero Yuy regarded his wife with the keen eye of both husband and bodyguard as she went sweeping into their suite. The set of rooms was large and ornately-decorated, with favoring touches here and there such as extra towels in the bathrooms and a pot of tea already brewing on the stove. The hotel they were staying in was owned by the Winner Corporation, and Quatre had called the Lunar branch himself to fulfill certain arrangements for his longtime friends' stay.

Relena looked tired as she set her purse down on a small table beside the couch. Already she was heading for the bedroom, probably to find her luggage so she could unpack and put together her attire for that evening's political function.

"You'd think they'd be too lazy to hold these things this time of the year." Her voice drifted back to him like the fading notes of a song by a really annoyed musician. "The President didn't even want this to happen and they're doing it anyway."

Heero walked into the doorway of the bedroom and leaned on the jamb. Relena had paused in the task of lifting a garment bag from her suitcase and was staring at the white, subtly patterned comforter on the bed. Heero knew she was looking inward, thinking about how she was seriously contemplating running for Presidency. After a moment, she blinked and glanced at him. "Don't you have anything to add?"

He shrugged. "It's been a while since I've been on the moon."

The corners of Relena's mouth twitched up, and she turned to the windows, stepping over to them. "It is very nice. The last time I was here, it was May and there were a bunch of business meetings I had to attend – you remember? We didn't get to really see anything."

Heero refrained from telling her that he'd seen the large white orb several times and the last was when he'd come in Wing Zero to destroy a group of Oz facilities. "That's why we're taking a vacation," he said instead.

"It isn't a vacation," she protested. "It's a Christmas party set up by the ESUN officials from the Colonies. Trust me, I'll celebrate the end of the war with as much joy as everyone else – if not more – but the only true warmth about this thing is going to be the candles on the tree."

Heero went to his own bag and began unpacking as well. Naturally, his was much smaller than Relena's. "You like eggnog," he reminded her. "And we'll have tomorrow and Sunday."

"Hmmm," came the noncommittal response. "That's after I dance with the majority of the ESUN council and listen to them try to sway me whichever way they can." She had a point. While Relena's station as Vice Minister was a few rungs down from the top of the ladder, she often held more political power than the President himself in terms of convincing power.

Heero kept quiet, watching her as she pulled the thin straps of a long, gold colored silk dress up on her shoulders. Feeling his stare, Relena looked up.

"What are you doing? The party starts in an hour."

Heero smirked. Stepping toward her, he slipped a finger beneath each of the straps and slowly pulled them down her arms. "You're on Sanq time," he murmured. With gentle force, he pushed his wife down onto the bed and settled his weight on her. He was pleased with her reactive smile. "It starts in two."

You could probably guess what they did with that extra hour. Let's just say they started their vacation a little early.


	4. 4th Day

Title: Fallen Candle  
Author: Gundam Girl

Theme: #4, Candles Glowing  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fanfiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story, or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

The Peacecraft Palace main house – home of the Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Darlian – had a main energy supply and a backup generator. There were also many circuits that ran on a twenty-four/seven system…but none of these were able to withstand that blizzard that had struck the Sanq Kingdom with all the mercy of a man unstable on the Zero System.

This left Relena Darlian to grope through the halls from her private quarters on a path to the central living room one staircase and several dizzying corridors away. She seemed to be the only one awake in the house and, so it seemed, had the only bedroom without a flashlight.

She frowned to herself as she realized she was about to hit a stand half a second before she stubbed her toe. "I'm going to get a personal emergency kit," she vowed in a low mutter.

She continued her trek down the hallway with more caution than she used when speaking to her superior politicians. It was uncanny how completely different her home seemed to her in pitch blackness. She was relieved when she felt the cool marble of the top step beneath her bare feet. The temperature in the mansion was dropping fast and she shivered.

She half-clung to the banister as she descended the stairs. One wrong move and she'd be a goner. With a small landing and three more steps to go, Relena – despite her initial carefulness – was so happy to be down the grand staircase that she let something happen that she rarely did.

Her confidence got the best of her. Letting go of the banister, Relena made to hurry down the final few steps – and the hem on her winter nightgown caught between the step and her heel, viciously throwing her off balance.

She didn't realize she was falling in time enough to scream. Her head hit the cold tile floor with a jolt , thrusting her into an even deeper darkness than the one in her house.

She thought she saw one, softly-glowing flicker of flame right before her eyes shut.

---

She woke up feeling much warmer than she had when she was last conscious. As she had originally planned, she was lying on the sofa in her central living with the open fireplace at a powerful blaze, casting the room in heated, golden glow. What she hadn't planned was Heero sitting at the edge of the sofa, watching her.

But when she was more awake, she realized she wasn't surprised. "Hi, Heero." She winced as she spoke, the jaw movement alerting her to the definite twinge of pain on the back of her skull. "What brings you here?"

"You fell." He said it like he had mentioned that her hair was blond.

She smirked. "You were in my house again. Which is good. It's dangerous outside right now."

He didn't smile but she thought his eyes loosened at the corners. "You fell," he repeated. "I couldn't leave you there."

Her playful look turned lazy and with a smile she reached out and pulled him on top of her, bringing her lips down on his own. As she passed a hand over his cheek, a diamond ring gleamed from her finger in the firelight.

"When we're married," she murmured, "I won't have to go looking for a fire to get warmer."

"When we're married," Heero countered, "you won't be falling down any more stairs." He brought his lips down to hers again.

When she giggled and kicked out on accident, she knocked over the now unlit candle he had found her with. They had another kind of heat altogether warming them up.


	5. 5th Day

Title: Five Golden Rings  
Author: Gundam Girl  
Theme: #5, Five Golden Rings  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fanfiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story, or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

December tenth – the Peacecraft house was aglow with red, green, and white stringed lights. They twinkled and danced while the radio blared joyful holidays tunes, and a fire crackled in the hearth. The residents of the house had just finished trimming a traditional tree.

They were very far behind.

"Normally," Relena was saying to Noin, "my mother would have us put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving."

"That's pretty quick," replied Noin, recalling her childhood in Italy when her family rarely ever had a tree. She was particularly amused by a Deathscythe-shaped ornament Duo had made and sent to Relena as a joke.

The Vice Foreign Minister shrugged. "My father often traveled to the Colonies during the holidays as a demonstration of goodwill. We always decorated the tree together though." Her head turned away from her sister-in-law and toward where the living room connected to the kitchen. "That's why it would be _nice _of you to _join _us!" she called in her best commanding tone.

A few moments later, Relena's brother and husband came from the kitchen, wineglasses in hand. Though the two men didn't seem disgruntled, it was doubtful that they had been in pleasant conversation. The two men were about as warm to each other as the wind outside, but they weren't hostile any longer.

Zechs passed a glass to his wife, but Relena refused the wine Heero offered and opted instead for his hand as he sat down beside her. "So Milliardo, what do you think of Noin's hair?"

"I've told her countless times that I like it," he began, eyeing the jet black, shoulder-length locks in question. Noin's hair was pulled back at the moment, but several strands hung in her face, reminiscent of her old style.

"But each time he says it, I can hear him wishing it was short again." With a laugh reserved only for family, Noin lifted a hand to her hair. Teasingly, she looked at her brother-in-law. "What about you, Heero? Short hair or long?"

Heero shrugged in a way so nonchalant that it had Relena smiling. "I like change," he intoned, rubbing the back of his wife's hand with his thumb.

"Me too," added Relena. "And that's why I'm going to let you open one present fifteen days early this year." She reached into her pocket with her right hand and brought out a tiny cardboard box.

Heero took, switching hands to hold hers with his left and to lift the lid of the box with his right hand. From it he pulled something that gleamed in the firelight; a tiny gold ring that wouldn't have fit on his pink finger. Raising his head, he sent Relena a quizzical look.

Relena beamed. "Count the gold rings," she murmured, like encouraging another to play a children's game. Lifting their joined hands, she pointed to the wedding band on her finger – "One" – and on his – "Two." She nodded to her brother and his spouse. Similar rings glinted from the hand in Noin's hair – "Three" – and against Zechs' glass – "Four…."

Heero stared at the mini piece of jewelry sitting in the palm of his hand. "Five," he murmured.

Relena set her head on his broad shoulder. "And who else could wear a ring that small but our little girl?"

Startled sputters came from Zechs, Noin gave a congratulatory gasp, but Heero remained silent. His eyes were trained on Relena's, an intensity between them that Relena found she wasn't used to even after being married to the former Gundam pilot for more than a year.

"Ours?" he whispered.

She grinned. "She'll be beautiful."

He nodded, a slow smile coming to his lips. "I think so."

When he kissed her, she knew that this Christmas would only be bested by next years and all the years afterward – when they shared the holiday with their child.


	6. 6th Day

Title: Learning More

Author: Gundam Girl

Challenge: #6, "Love Letters"

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value, and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

"So did you decide yet?"

Relena had to really struggle to not look up into the cornflower-blue eyes of Hilde Schbeiker, a woman she normally considered a friend. Today, however, the petite German girl seemed determined to hinder her work. So with great effort, she kept her eyes on the file in front of her, checking and crossing off and was needed. From behind her large work desk, her knees trembled. "Hilde, I told you. I'm not making any big decisions until I can get some proof that Heero is serious about being with me." This time, she did meet the other woman's eyes. "He's never dated before. I'm not going to allow myself to get my own hopes up, especially now when I have all of—" She gave a generalizing sweep of her arm toward the papers covering her desk. "This."

"It's the Christmas season," Hilde said archly, sounding surprisingly like Dorothy Catalonia. "Shouldn't there be less work for you this time of you?"

"Oh, ha ha. Christmas is one of the most stressful times of the year, if not _the_ most. Not only do I have affairs concerning the government for earth and the Colonies to keep in mind, but dozens of charities notify this office each day expecting millions of dollars."

"Why?"

"Because I was the one who demonstrated total pacifism during the war." Relena rested her head in her hand for a moment, a few strands escaping her businesslike bun to dangle in front of her eyes. "It all comes down to the war. It's been seven years. You'd think they would find other people to guilt trip, wouldn't you?"

Hilde smiled. "But you'd never turn them down."

Relena paused, then laughed a bit. "No, I wouldn't. I just use a bit of stock from the ESUN. My father taught me early on how important it is to show that you care for people of all statuses. Christmas is the best time for it."

Hilde was nodding and when she realized it, she scowled. "God, Relena, if you're not good at getting people to think about other things, you're nothing. I'm _here _to talk to you about Heero."

"I don't have _time_," Relena told her impatiently. "I promise I'll figure things out on my own, Hilde. Once I figure out him."

"Well, fine. But you'll be sorry at some point for not taking my advice. Even Heero took some of Duo's." Ignoring Relena's blinks of surprise, the dark-haired woman reached into her purse and produced a plain white envelope. The paper looked worn and it had long since been sealed, but there was no markings or address on the front. When Hilde held it out to her, Relena took it warily.

"What is this?" the Vice Foreign Minister asked, studying the object with closer scrutiny.

Hilde grinned in a way that was oddly similar to that of her braided fiance's trademark expression. "Something that may help you do that figuring thing." With a silent lift of her hand, she left Relena's office, chuckling faintly to herself.

Relena looked at her closed door for a moment, then back at the envelope. She discovered a crease down the middle, indicating a long-time fold, and she handled it carefully as she took a small blade from her desk drawer and drew it under the flap, breaking the seal.

The white envelope held a white piece of paper. The lettering on it was small and at first glance Relena thought it must have been typed but after looking at the date at the faded ink, she decided it must have been handwritten after all. The writing was just that precise.

Not that it mattered compared to what the date was.

"November fourteenth, After Colony 195," Relena muttered to herself. The letter was more than seven years old. With deepest curiosity, she read, slightly flustered by how her heart pounded.

_Relena –_

_I have no words to accurately describe what it is that I feel to see you. I have been trained to feel nothing, not such things as remorse or relief or that which is known as kindness. I do know what these things are and how people react upon feeling such things, but I do not claim to share them._

_This is why it is challenging for me to write this. This letter is not even for you. It's for me to try and explain to myself why when I see you I feel something. This thing I don't know, whatever it is. I have no name to give it. I don't think I can even show it. All I know is I feel it and I don't know whether it is good or bad. Or if it can be good or bad._

_I see you, either in person or during broadcasts, and inside I feel ill. Feverish sometimes. You cannot see it because I've been trained not to let you see it. There's nothing else I can do. I've tried to stay well in your presence and it's not possible for me. I don't know how to counter it. I don't even know if I want to._

_I do know that this is the feeling that drives me to protect you and what you stand for – what we both stand for. To pretend I don't want to do that would be lying. I am a killer and I'm not someone who will live to see the peace you're currently fighting for, but I'm not a liar. I would be lying if I said that this feeling would stop me from killing you. Before this war is through, if you must, you will die._

Relena paused, lifting her eyes from the letter to the window. The dark blue of the evening sky outside made her think of the eyes of a Heero of seven years ago. She turned back to the strict script in her hands.

_But I would be lying as well if I said I wanted that to happen. Do not mistake this for neglected duty. This war comes first before anything I may or may not feel. That must be my sole focus as of now; this pertains to my reason for writing this. If these thoughts don't leave my mind by some way, they will lead me to lack of concentration on the battlefield._

_You will not get the chance to read this. I am not writing this so that someday you will. But now that I've written it, it feels impractical that you won't. And I know well enough that you think about my welfare too often. I'm not going to give you a new reason to think about a soldier who will die within a matter of months anyway._

_If nothing else, it's assisting to get this out of my mind._

_- Heero Yuy_

Relena stared at the letter for a few seconds, then read the entire thing again. Seven years ago, Heero felt something for her, but it wasn't something he knew anything about. Hilde had given it to her under the pretense that that something was love, but Relena didn't believe that was the case. They'd been fifteen. Even she didn't love at fifteen, and she had grown up with plenty of that. What had Heero felt then?

Too deeply lost in her wonderings, Relena didn't notice that the sun had completely fallen outside, let alone hear the door to her office open and close.

The voice that spoke to her was deep and solemn. "That was years ago."

Most people would be startled by being caught unawares. But Relena had so often heard – and admittedly, imagined – the voice and its owner that she merely lifted her gaze calmly to her guest's. "Hello, Heero."

It may have been the single of the single desk lamp lighting the room affecting her view of him, but Relena was fairly certain that she saw amusement in his otherwise serious face. "I was sure you'd say more than that," Heero told her honestly.

"Normally I might have. But it's been a few days since we've seen each other," Relena replied.

"Since I asked you to dinner." Heero nodded and took a step closer to the desk, but remained a good few feet's distance away. "Do you have an answer for me yet? I thought this might have been adequate time."

"Why did you give Hilde this to give to me?" she asked plainly, folded her hands together of top of the filing she'd been working on almost a full two hours ago. The letter sat just in front of her clasped fingers. "This says you never planned to let me read this."

"I didn't for a long time. In December – on the twenty-seventh, right before the war ended – I gave it to Duo to keep." His eyes didn't reveal whether it still considered this a good idea or not. "He didn't read it, but he could probably guess some of what was in it when I told him that when I died, you were to receive it. When I didn't die, he didn't offer to give him back and I didn't ask for it. So he told Hilde his guesses. When Hilde found out you didn't accept my dinner invitation right away, she talked to Duo. Duo gave her that." Heero made a gesture with his hand toward the letter, the first movement he'd made with his hand since closing the door. "He called me after she'd left to come here."

"And she gave it to me." Relena nodded. "Why did you let it reach me? You could have stopped it from happening if you wanted to."

Heero was silent for a moment. "I want you to know what I was like back then. I realize you know who I was – a soldier. Nothing more. You were there, I haven't forgotten that." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "But you didn't know who I was when I was alone in that Gundam, when I wasn't fighting battles."

It surprised Relena to suddenly realize that she really wanted to learn more about that Heero. She wanted to know about the Heero of seven years ago and, looking at him, she wanted to learn more than that about the Heero of now.

Blinking, she gave him a quick yet thorough study and saw that, while he was anything but formal, he was dressed more nicely than usual in plain black pants and a button-up blue shirt that was just a few shades lighter than his eyes and a few shades darker than hers.

"This letter," she replied at length, "didn't really tell me too much about him."

His eyes intensified abruptly, and in two long strides, he was around the desk and standing next to her chair. He looked down at her, lit by the lamp on one side, shadowed on the other. It made it clear to Relena that she only knew half of Heero Yuy.

He lifted a hand out to her, offering her his palm. Relena stared at it, then up at him.

"I can tell you the rest," he said.

Relena smiled. In a moment, her hand was in his and she was pulling her from the chair. It seemed they would be going to a late dinner.

He wouldn't tell her everything tonight, she understood. Grabbing her coat, she went to the door and opened, then flicked off the light switch that turned off the desk lamp. Heero followed her out, pulling the door closed behind her. It would take Heero time to let her know himself entirely. Maybe by Christmas she'd have a pretty good idea.

And by then, who knew, she thought as they stepped into the chill December air outside. If being with him put her in a really good mood, she might give more to the charities than usual this Christmas.


	7. 7th Day

Title: A Little Impracticality Goes A Long Way

Author: Gundam Girl

Theme: #7, Tiny Nighties

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value, and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

It was a white and sunny Christmas. The sunshine reflected off the snow had made Relena's bedroom bright enough without the need of a lamp or light. So she and Heero didn't even have to get out of bed to start opening presents, which they had hidden from each other beneath their respective sides of the bed.

Relena gave Heero a watch. This seemed a typical present from a female lover, but it was as much out of necessity as out of affection. Heero only had a Preventer-issued watch complete with bomb detector, paralyzing spray, and other bodyguard-required paraphernalia in addition to the usual clock.

"You need a watch that can't kill people," she had told him once after a benefit dinner that he had spent the whole night at with one finger on the button that would release a small dagger because he suspected bad things from a waiter.

"I need the other watch," Heero had begun but was silenced when his wife snapped that he could keep it in his pocket.

This watch was plain but expensive gold, with a large black face and gold numbers and hands. He kissed her, liking the idea that she would stop getting after him for wearing "that thing" to events promoting peace. Maybe it would make her a bit friendlier even though she was always worn out after them. And a friendly Relena doth a happy Heero make.

His gift was a quite more unnecessary, which was exactly what Relena preferred. She had money enough for the necessities in the world, and the woman who was normally bogged down by practicalities and propriety appreciated the random and useless.

However, in Heero's mind, the present he had gotten her was neither random nor useless. As Relena unwrapped the wide, flat box (she laughed at the crinkled paper – he never had been very good at gift-wrapping) , Heero watched her closely, curious about what her reaction would be.

"It's a…ohhh." A wide, half-embarrassed grin broke out on her face as faint color spread over her face. "And what does you propose I do with this?" She held up the little black number by the thin straps that crossed in the back.

Heero reached out and felt the satin with his thumb and forefinger, imagining how much softer Relena's skin was compared to the fabric. "It's clothing. You wear it."

Relena pressed her lips together, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. She had never worn anything quite so daring as this before. She estimated that the material would cover from the curve of her breasts to the tops of her thighs, if she was lucky. It flared out in the back, just a little longer than the front. It was very…accessible. And was that a blindfold hanging out of the box! "When?" she managed with a short breath.

Wordlessly, Heero reached for the neck of the sweater she had worn to bed. "Now's as good a time as any." Leaning in close, he whispered in her ear, and shivers stretched deliciously up her spine. "I also bought another for your office."

Relena barely registered him divesting her of the sweater and with seconds he had her on her back. "You could at least try on the watch," she gasped breathlessly.

He growled. "Later."

Much, much later.


	8. 8th Day

Title: Compensation  
Author: Gundam Girl  
Theme: #8, Chocolate Truffles  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value, and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

Wufei did not pay any more attention to the oddly shaped package in the mail than any of the plain white business letters he held in the same hand. Today it was his turn to get the mail for his fellow former Gundam-pilots-turned-Preventers. Yesterday the task had been Trowa's and tomorrow it would be a loudly whining Duo's. Heero somehow always managed to be on break when the mail came on his day.

But Wufei held the highest respect for every duty he undertook. So her entered Preventer Yuy's office with every bit of seriousness he would possess if he was on his way to take out a group of revolution fanatics.

Heero's office was always immaculate; labeled and neat with absolutely nothing out of place. Even his laptop was always in the same center degrees of his desk, and Heero _knew _if it had been moved by just a centimeter. (Duo had tried it once. Wufei had pretended to lack any interest but had watched the test from the hall.)

Heero also was usually working on said laptop, so Wufei hadn't needed to know to see if he was in. The sound of Pilot 01's fast-paced, assuredly accurate typing could be distinguished through the door.

"Mail, Yuy." Wufei paused and patiently waited for Heero to get to a stopping pace in his work. Heero reached out, keeping his eyes on the computer monitor rather than looking at him. Wufei usually never said anything more to his former comrade, but he couldn't help but notice a familiar name as he passed the bundle over. "So, Relena's still in the Colonies."

At that, Heero did look up, then dropped his eyes to the strange, octagonal package, zeroing in on the return address. "Yeah. She's on L4. Quatre's hosting her."

"He could probably use the company. What's she doing there?" Wufei figured the extended conversation between two men who normally minded their own business slightly puzzled Heero, but naturally the other man didn't show it.

"Dissolving a suggestion for the use of rocket launchers on hand at Colony security centers."

The tone was clipped and short, indicating that Heero had every desire to be left to his work. The Chinese man got the message. With a silent lift of his hand for a wave, he walked out of the office and shut the door behind him. Wufei might never have been what could be called close with Heero, but he didn't have to be to know that Yuy fiercely cared for Relena, quite possibly even loved her. He had it on good authority (as good as Duo's was) that there was a ring locked in one of Heero's desk drawers. Thinking of marriage, Wufei was inspired to take the long way to his office so that he wouldn't have to pass by Sally's.

Inside the office Chang had just left, Heero was proving Wufei wrong. He had not returned to work but had instead opened the package from Relena. He held now a tin, one that Relena would undoubtedly pick out, with snowflakes and sprigs of mistletoe painted on the lid. Taped to it was a small, quickly scrawled note, probably written at the post office just before mailing:

_People more stubborn here than I thought. Quatre and I have to stay longer. Should be home Christmas Eve morning, night at the latest. A little something to make up for it._

Love,

_  
Relena_

Reading it twice, Heero couldn't help but smirk – "stubborn" was a carefully polite word for what Relena truly thought of the Colonial committee of safety. Heero had once met the chief of the Colonies' security team, Jackson Polson. He was twice as old as him and was most likely bitter for not being invited to join Preventers as soon as the organization was established. Relena had more than once referred to him as Mean Jack.

Setting the note aside, Heero peered into the tin. What he found was a very welcome gift.

Caramel-filled chocolate truffles.

He remembered the first time he had eaten one at a business party he had escorted Relena to over a year ago. They had been alcoholic, and Relena had tossed nearly a full tray of them into the trash to keep him from devouring them all.

While Heero could think of better ways to be compensated for extended absence (most involved both of them, a bed, and his choice of very few clothes), he had to admit that Relena had done a very good job.

Glancing at a certain desk drawer, Heero decided he would use what it contained sooner than originally planned.


	9. 9th Day

Title: Must Be The Fire  
Author: Gundam Girl  
Theme: #9, Roaring Fires  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value, and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

It wasn't a very suitable place to be spending Christmas Eve. This was Rlena's thought as she sat on a cozy log with a mug of steaming hot chocolate between her hands. She'd been given the entire week off for the holidays the first time in the five years she'd held office. And to her luck, the famous circus had come to the New Port City fairgrounds.

She had never been to the circus before tonight; her parents had viewed that form of entertainment as juvenile and less than cultural. But Relena had found the acrobats (especially Trowa) to be as graceful as any ballet dancers, and the show horses were as magnificent as any pony she might have rode as a girl.

She had expected to go home directly after the performance, but Trowa had approached her and requested she join the troupe and few close friends for a small, informal bonfire party. With nothing else to do until tomorrow when Zechs and Noin got it from Mars, she had thanked him and stayed.

So her she was, gathered around a blazing fire like she'd never seen, and Relena caught herself smiling off-camera for the first time in months.

"You look happy," a kind voice commented from beside her.

Turning, Relena's smile grew. "Quatre!" She shifted her bug and maneuvered a one-armed hug for the former pilot of Sandrock. "I didn't see you in the crowd."

"Good," Winner replied. "I'm not really supposed to be here. My sisters think I'm with you, drawing up plans for Winner Corp to merge with Sanq Supplies."

Relena gave him a slightly puzzled look. "But…there _is _no Sanq Supplies."

"Yes," he nodded, "but my sisters don't know that." They laughed together. Relena felt warm as they chatted. She and Quatre had become good friends at some point, if not when he had taken refuge at her palace during the chaos of the war, then right after the war when they had worked together on the rebuilding process. She was glad for it. "Trowa invited me," he went on.

"Me too. But he didn't mention anyone else would be here."

"Am I the first one you've seen?" he asked in surprise. "How could you miss Duo?" Casually he waved his hand at a point away from the fire.

Glancing over, Relena saw the infamous Duo Maxwell with his fiancée, the same Hilde Schbeiker she had helped on Libra. Duo had gotten hold of a sprig of mistletoe, was dangling it over Hilde and…Relena colored a bit. "He seemed to be getting the desired effect."

"Well." With a small, somewhat mysterious smile, Quatre stood. "If you missed him, it's no wonder that you missed the other one."

"Wufei?" She found this plausible as she and Wufei rarely spoke except for the few and far between times he was assigned to her guard detail.

"Heh." Quatre patted her shoulder. "He was at the show. But he isn't who I was referring to." He nodded in front of them, and Relena looked.

She never saw Quatre walk away.

Through the fire, she could see a man standing just outside of the orange glow. The shivering flames and mass of golds, reds, greens, and blues made it difficult to see him clearly, but Relena didn't need her eyes to know him in an instant.

Especially when his eyes met hers. They were brighter and more powerful than any hue in the fire.

"Heero," she breathed. She rose to her feet. Maybe it was the fire or maybe Catherine had put something in her hot chocolate, but she found herself moving to him, feeling weightless, entranced.

When she joined him on the other side of the fire, he turned to her with his hands in his pockets and two words on his tongue. "Hi, Relena."

"Hello, Heero." She smiled up at him, remembering how often she'd wished she could say that to him. "It's been a few months."

She thought he saw him wince, but then admonished herself for imagining it. Heero Yuy hardly winced. "Seven," he nodded. "Not since your birthday."

"How have you been?" she asked, brushing off that particular memory when she had been given a bit too much to drink and half-cornered Heero in her garden. He had calmly taken her back inside, stayed until the rest of the guests left, and talked to Trowa, her guard that day, about watching her alcohol intake. She had never been so mortified.

He shrugged. "Okay. I'm still living on L1."

"Are you still hacking into the Preventers' files?" Relena laughed a little when he only stared at her. "Duo told me. Lady Une doesn't know, but Duo said you were the only person that could do such a clean job."

Heero didn't reply, choosing instead to look into the fire and listen.

"You could just join, you know. That would reduce your hacking at least, wouldn't it?" A bit of seriousness invaded her tone. "Besides, it they found you out, you could be—" Relena halted herself when Heero brought his eyes directly back to hers. With a slight sigh, she shook her head. "I guess that wouldn't happen, would it?"

"How are you, Relena?"

"Huh?" The question caught her so off guard that she didn't realize she had started holding her mug at an angle and some hot chocolate dribbled out and landed on the grass. "Oh – I'm…I'm okay." It was a lie, she acknowledged, but a harmless one.

Which Heero completely saw through as he took a step toward her. "You must be pleased with the time off." His voice carried no actual conversational tone, but his eyes kept observing her. Relena felt a bit like a specimen beneath a telescope, as though Heero could view right into her.

"I am. I'm really happy I could come out here. But you were honestly the last person I expected to see. It didn't even enter my mind." Relena stopped looking at him, turned to the fire. She pushed some hair away from her face, and set her mug down on the ground. As soon as she straightened up again, she wished she hadn't. Heero's stare was strange and she wanted something to do with her hands.

"Seven months," he said lowly. "That's too long, Relena." He stepped closer to her again, only half a foot away.

A breath shook out of her, and Relena felt dumb for being so rattled. "I…" She couldn't think as he moved a few inches closer. Oh God, she couldn't breathe! When did he get so close? "Yes, you should…come more often." Her tongue was tied in knots as Heero lifted a hand and brought the hair she'd tucked behind her ear to her cheek again. He trailed his far finger over her jaw.

His eyes were dark, almost black as he looked at her. "I should." Catching her off-guard again, he looked up. Relena followed his gaze.

Duo's mistletoe went sailing over their heads. Relena didn't really want to know how Hilde had made him forget about it, but she smiled a little and looked at him again. His watched beeped once, signaling the hour. Midnight.

"Merry Christmas, Heero." Going up on her toes, she caught his lips with her own. She felt his arms come around her almost instantly.

Yes, Relena thought as Heero pulled her to a darker part of the grounds. It must be the fire.


	10. 10th Day

Title: Perfect Gift

Author: Gundam Girl

Theme: #10, Guards Protectin'

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fanfiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story, or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

Christmas morning made Heero tense. Relena had a sense of tradition that drove her sometimes, but _she _had declared three years ago when they had first come together that they would be original. If they were going to get presents for each other, they would give them on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. But she was unpredictable.

The first Christmas she had relented to her inner traditional self and given him a present on both days. Heero had been horribly unprepared and instead splurged on her for her birthday four months later. But the following year, Relena had stuck her to first plan and given him nothing on Christmas Day, whereas Heero had bought her a necklace, just in case. (He proposed to her ten months later.)

This year he woke up in her bed – this was a new event – and found her gone. He half-frantically wondered if she was bringing up a different gift. He was completely satisfied with the coat she had given him last night – if in all honesty they incredible sex had been his favorite part – and she had loved the dress he had bought her, which was no doubt the reason for the aforementioned incredible sex.

If she did end up giving him something new, he had remembered to hide the necklace from last year in the pocket of his pants (which had been tossed somewhere by the door the previous evening). His tension eased a bit.

As it did, he heard the familiar pace approaching the bedroom, and Relena entered, dressed only in a thin satin robe In her hands was a long box, wrapped in happy candy-cane printed paper.

_Called it_, Heero thought, sitting up.

Relena joined him on the bed. "Merry Christmas," she said cheerily. Heero decided it was a nice phrase to hear first thing in the morning. He took the box and dutifully tore into it, feeling her delighted eyes on him.

He removed the lid of the wooden box, pausing upon seeing what it contained. Ten painted guards stared up at him, their miniature rifles held against their little plastic shoulders.

Heero smirked. "Toy soldiers." Relena had a very odd sense of humor sometimes.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "They suit you perfectly."

Heero climbed out of bed to retrieve her present. "So will yours," he promised.


	11. 11th Day

Title: A Pleasant Surprise  
Author: Gundam Girl  
Theme: #11, Nights of Wonder  
Rating: PG-13 for innuendo.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value, and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

Heero was still arguably part machine. Or at the very least, part machine-like. Two things led Relena to this conclusion. One: he had the longest stamina she had ever heard tell of. He kept her awake from eleven to two and the enigma of it all was that she woke in the morning feeling as refreshed as she might have with a full night's sleep. Two: The only thing he ever overdid was his duty as her guard. He spared no quarter and left nothing ignored when it came to her protection. Relena was grateful for this because she was rarely threatened, but she was also…often…frustrated.

Because with those two exceptions, Heero Yuy, of all people, was a pretty boring date. She rarely got him out in any case because he always insisted upon taking the proper security measures, and those always took from twenty minutes to an hour to assure. After the first few attempts to be a casual, unnoticed member of society, Relena had given up and accepted that she would be forced to spend her life thought of as a hermit in the eyes of the world. It wasn't such a bad thing; she was still the number-one sought after woman for exclusive events but the position of escort was each time filled inevitably by her methodical guard.

So Relena expected nothing on New Year's Eve. Last year they had spent the evening home with a bottle of champagne and a light supper Pagan had prepared, so she imagined that this year would be no different. Relena honestly didn't mind; she held no special attachments toward the New Year other than it was another year gone by without war and that was attention enough. She found no purpose in sitting in front of the television and watching college girls flash the cameras or seeing people get so monstrously drunk that police always had to stand by party zones.

But when she returned home from an out-of-office meeting on New Year's Eve, Heero was nowhere to be found. Pagan instead brought her attention to a note left for her on a table in the front entrance hall.

_Meet me at Reggie's at 11:30. _

-Heero

Reggie's? It was the only thought to dash across Relena's mind for a few moments. Reggie's was a bar and grill, five-star by the New Port critics, but more of a college hangout than a family or lovers' restaurant. The next thought she had was that it was a quarter to eleven-thirty now. Dashing upstairs, Relena changed out of her business attire and into a pair of jeans and a casual but classy green sweater, then ran down again to catch her driver before he put the car away.

Heero caused her trouble sometimes. Good thing she loved him.

---

She ended up being five minutes late, but when she entered Reggie's, she found Heero almost instantly. She admitted she had a sort of sixth sense about him. Relena joined him at a cozy booth near the back of the place. Heero had already ordered both of them drinks and a menu was sitting in the empty place reserved for her.

"Hi," she said as she sat down. She felt one of her knees brush Heero's as he answered.

"Hi." His eyes watched her carefully, as they ever did. If she didn't know better, Relena might have said Heero observed her twenty-four/seven.

"It's a bit rowdy here tonight," she commented, sounding as though she was a regular even though Relena had never stepped inside the place before.

"It's New Year's," Heero replied with a shrug of one shoulder. "It's rowdy everywhere tonight."

Relena smiled as she lifted her glass of diet soda and tipped it to her mouth. "Good point. Was something wrong?" she heard herself asking before she had honestly decided whether she was going to ask or not. Heero's gaze was slightly questioning and she hurried on to say, "I just mean…we don't ever really come to placed like this."

"I thought she might want to be among people, at least on New Year's. These are the people you serve," said Heero, his hand covering hers. "And I figured you'd be hungry."

She grinned and placed an order with the server that came to their table shortly. Service was quick and efficient at Reggie's even on New Year's, and Relena had finished her meal by a quarter to twelve. Glancing around, she found she liked seeing other people enjoy themselves. New Year's Eve was a festive occasion all around the world – people celebrated getting through another year and prepared for the next one in the best way there was – with friends.

"Thank you, Heero," she told her guard. She took back her earlier thought about Heero being part machine. He was man through and through.

When people began the slow countdown from ten, she held up the wineglass she had been brought and clinked it with his. "To a year with you," she declared, a low laugh bubbling from her throat.

A smile reached Heero's eyes as well as his lips and he sipped from his glass. With his free hand, he reached into his pocket and produced a small velvet box. "To a lifetime with you," he corrected.

By the time the raucous cry of "Happy New Year!" filled the air, the ring glinted from Relena's finger as they rang in the rest of their lives with a kiss.


	12. 12th Day

Title: Keep On Playing  
Author: Gundam Girl  
Theme: #12, Notes of Music  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value, and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this story or the use of characters owned by Sunrise and Bandai.

Maybe this party was a bad idea. Relena really feared that such was the case. Inviting all former Gundam pilots and their significant others to her home where her brother and his wife, former enemies of theirs, lived as well had seemed like a magnificent time at first, but various things kept proving her wrong.

Though the plan had been to celebrate five years since the end of the war in a peaceful, non-aggressive atmosphere, the parlor of the main portion of the castle was in a certain state of restrained chaos. Wufei and Sally hadn't stopped arguing since they had arrived (Wufei still hadn't proposed and Sally was beginning to feel frustrated), Hilde kept berating Duo for eating all of the refreshment and forcing Pagan to prepare more, Trowa had brought Catherine who was insisting to Quatre that knife-throwing was a safe form of entertainment for the people of the Colonies, and Dorothy was wandering around the room to analyze various copied and original paintings that the Peacecraft home boasted, not paying attention to hardly anyone. Zechs was no help, replying to Noin's somewhat harsh warnings with insistences that each and every pilot there still despised him.

It had been this way for _three hours_. Not to mention Heero had yet to even show despite his assurance to her earlier that week that he would. Fed up, Relena marched into the parlor that she had briefly left just so she could breathe. "That is enough!" she exclaimed and every person in the room went quiet and brought their somewhat alarmed attention directly to her. Thank God for her political skill. "What exactly is the problem?"

Sally pointed an accusing finger at Wufei, Trowa looked away in embarrassment for his sister because Cathy never would be, Duo merely blinked with his mouth stuffed full of cookies, and Dorothy resumed her spot on the couch in a dainty fashion.

Zechs was the only one who spoke, or rather, growled. "If they have a problem, they should _say _it!"

"And what does any of it have to do with a get-together to mark the end of the Eve Wars?"

This retort was not from Relena, who relaxed a bit with the appearance of the man she felt standing behind her. This had always been the effect; Relena Darlian started things and Heero Yuy finished them. They were a good team, she thought wistfully, if not yet a good couple.

She turned and smiled at him. "My point exactly." A puzzled look crossed her face when she saw what he held in his hands. "What on earth on those for?"

"I came in the back and picked them up in your music room." Ignoring her expression (which was undoubtedly from wondering how he even knew where her music room was), Heero handed a violin to Quatre and a flute to Trowa. "Play," he commanded simply. "And do something useful for your host."

Quatre blushed slightly, a guilty expression on her face. "Knife-throwing does have its advantages," he relented to Catherine, who smirked. He looked at Trowa. "What was that one we heard on L6? That wasn't too hard."

If anyone had been paying close enough attention, they might have wondered why Catherine, Trowa, and Quatre had been on L6, which was a renowned party Colony. But they did not, and the two began their duet with the violin drifting out low, mellow tones.

"I'm going to get some wine," Relena offered with an arch of her brows. "Maybe then you'll all loosen up." She turned and went out, heading for the cellar. She didn't realize until she reached the bottom of the stairs that someone had followed her. "Heero," she called. "Come down if you want."

Heero said nothing but slowly joined her in the cellar, where the temperature dropped a few degrees. They could still hear the strains of Quatre's and Trowa's duet from below. The flute had joined in, and the melody had gone smooth and slow. He stood a few feet away from the wine rack that she was looking through.

"Thanks for your help," she said with a smile as she investigated labels and dates. "My logic works well enough on Milliardo, but I can't say the same for your comrades. Ah, here." She pulled a long-necked bottle of red wine from the rack and turned to him. "Yes?"

"Sure," he replied, not glancing at the bottle. The song wafted down from the open door at the top of the stairs, the notes somehow…sexual. Relena held the bottle to her breast and he couldn't resist letting his eyes linger there for a moment before pulling them back up to hers. "You look good."

She was healthy and she knew it. The vacation she'd been given for the holidays, though over now, had put color back in her face and weight she'd needed back on her bones. "Thanks. You do too, but of course, you didn't let anyone run you ragged like I did."

Heero stepped closer to her, his eyes dark in the dim cellar light. Carefully, he brushed a hand over her shoulder and along the side of her neck until it reached her jaw. "That isn't what I meant," he told her softly. He heard her breath shudder out at the touch, and he pulled her to him by the back of her head, his fingers twining through her hair.

Relena couldn't tell if the song upstairs had gained a faster tempo or if that beat was merely her heart. "I…Heero—" She went tense when his lips came to hers, then went lax again as her arms wound about his neck, the wine bottle falling to the floor with a crack.

His hands wove down her sides, her hips, the tops of her thighs, then up again. He kissed and she kissed until both of them were in sore need of breath and even then neither wanted to break apart. Relena eventually dragged him forward until her back was to a wall and he had her propped against the cold cement, her legs wrapped around his waist. A low growl came from Heero's throat as from the parlor upstairs, Quatre's voice was heard:

"You guys okay down there?"

"Yeah," Relena called up, thankful her voice was whole.

Heero brought his face close to hers. "Play that song again," he added, then pressed against her once more.


End file.
